Adventures in the Swiss Italian Emergency Room and Other Things I'd Never Like to Experience Again

I love new experiences in my summer travels. 

But this is one I'd particularly like to avoid in the future. 

On the first official day we started working, I was sitting in an admin meeting and noticed that my vision had become cloudy. Not blurry. Cloudy. I figured it was my contact so I went home to clean it, only to discover that it was still cloudy without my contact. 

I texted my parents, "Okay, the airline found my lost bag, here is my next problem..." and they immediately responded, "Do not wait. You only have one set of eyes." 

So my dear friend here volunteered to take me to ER that night to get it checked out. Through her Italian translation, I told the triage nurse what I was experiencing and she told me to go to the opthamology department the next morning when it was open. I wasn't in pain so there was nothing they could do until the eye doctor was there in the morning. 

So home we went. Until 3am the next morning when I awoke in excruciating pain. A quick google search told me that I should go back to the emergency room asap in case it was a detached retina. 

So I called my dear friend at 3am and asked her if her car and her Italian skills could take me back to ER. And off we went. 

I will never forget that angel of a doctor. When I am in agony, kindness is the #1 thing I need. She was a petite, tanned, beautiful glasses-wearing Swiss-Italian ER doctor, who in soothing tones gently tried to open my eye as I was crying out in pain. I will mostly never forget the magical aneseptic drops she gave me to numb the pain. She finally was able to look in my eye and tell me with her few English words that she thought it was a scratched cornea and that it could wait until the ophthalmologist came in at 10am. She gave me some more magic drops, I literally told her she was an angel, and she sent us on our way. 

So home we went. Until 10am when the equally kind, angelic ophthalmologist, who I will also never forget, looked in my eye and confirmed that it was in fact a large, deep scratch on my cornea, most likely done by my contact, unbeknownst to me. I will mostly never forget when he told me I wasn't going blind, which honestly was a possibility in my head, that I didn't have to go back to the states, which was another possibility in my head, and that I would be normal again in 2-3 days. 

He wrote me 4 prescriptions, told me I couldn't use the magical drops anymore (I remember not liking him as much at that point...) if I wanted it to heal, and sent us on our way.

I wish that was the end of the story, but that was the start of 2 long days of laying in my dark room in pain listening to podcasts because that is about all I could do. My worst enemies included light, reading, and socializing, because it hurt to open my eyes or focus on anything. I was most comfortable in my dark room, laying on my bed with my eyes closed. So that is what I did. 

And just like he predicted, 2 days later I woke up, opened both eyes, and felt 100% okay.

So, 2 ER visits, 3 ophthalmology appointments, 7 prescriptions, and 3 days later, I went back to my computer and caught up on work. 

Biggest take-aways from the experience: The Swiss medical system is fantastic. The American medical system is way overpriced. (2 ER visits, 3 ophthalmology appts, and 7 prescriptions without insurance cost me a total of $270.) I have an amazing support system at TASIS...being far away from home makes you really rely on each other. We (or I...) take eyesight for granted.

I don't have any pictures of these adventures. 

You'll just have to imagine. :)